Where The Stars Fued
by Light.fusion
Summary: A 5-year raging battle between Half-Blood Forces and the Titans has led to loss and turmoil, though not only physical. Loss after loss, Jason has endured and continued his relentless fighting. Though pain rocks her core, Piper doesn't lower her fierceness towards the enemy. But one mission and one prisoner disrupts the recurring pattern and what little peace the two had found.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, everyone. This is a Sci-Fi that was actually loosely based off of a dream i had once like last year and this came pouring out of me. It's been locked up in my folder for 2 months and i intended to make this a one-shot but it's soo loonggg.**

 **Anyway enjoyy.**

 **(I don't own the characters or some names mentioned)**

Piper twisted her engagement ring in anxiety.

It had been exactly four hours since the podship took the whole of Squad 107 to Atlas to conduct the one mission that would work to their advantage. At least, that was what they expected, with all the failed ones in the past. If this ended in failure too...

She took a calming breath.

No, it wouldn't. It was a simple task of faltering the ship's motors and messing the wiring. They even had the most talented mechanic in all of Olympus part of the team. It wouldn't end in failure. It couldn't.

Then why hadn't they returned yet?

She shook her head. It's a large ship, she reasoned. It had many circuits and lots of wiring. And working discreetly would require a steady and slow pace in order not to be caught. Or perhaps they already were...

"Lieutenant Mclean," She snapped her head up and shot to her feet at the sight of Chiron, the ship admiral, her hand shooting to her forehead in a salute.

He gave her a nod and she relaxed, her face expectant. Was there news he was to tell her? Was there any news they received from Squad 107? She forcibly shoved all negative possibilities as she watched him.

He gave her an apologetic smile. "We haven't recovered anything from Squad 107, but there haven't been any iris signals so we assume it's going smoothly."

She nodded, disappointed.

"What I am here to tell you," Chiron continued. "Is to man your sector and prep it for battle."

She paused and stifled the instant fear that grappled her heart. No, she told herself, whatever battle he's talking about can't be related to Squad 107. She let the confusion take over instead.

Piper's brow furrowed. "But sir," she said. "What battle am I preparing it for?"

"We have received signals from our satellites." He said. "And the ship seems to be inching closer. One of our satellites was destroyed either due to the proximity of it to the ship or an intentional attack. Either way, we need to be prepared."

Piper nodded. "Yes, sir." She then frowned. "If you don't mind me asking, why is it you came here yourself to deliver the message?"

He tossed something black to her and she managed to catch it in surprise. "Sir?"

He gave her a ghost of a smile. "It's Captain Grace's." He said. "He asked specifically for me to give it you personally." He then promptly left, the door sliding shut with a mechanical click after him.

"But…" She said after him. _Why give this to me a whole four hours after he left?_

She stared after him in surprise before looking down at the device. It was small, fitting the size of her palm and made of metal. She turned it in her palm and examined the millions of miniscule holes that filled the entirety of it. Her hand roamed the device until her finger caught on a button. Slowly, she flipped it, the device instinctively inched away from her face.

It buzzed, a crackling sound emanating from it, before a voice sounded.

"Testing, testing." A throat cleared. "We've reached our first hour here. Leo's being an absolute dumbass."

"You mean Leo is being the awesome hot mcshizzle he is?" Came a distant voice.

"No, you must've heard me wrong." Jason replied. "I said dumbass, being that we've been here for an hour."

"This is a big ship!" Leo exclaimed. "You try this, Grace."

"I'm too busy keeping watch for your scrawny behind."

"You're watching my scrawny behind?" Leo asked, his voice holding a tinge of mock-shyness. "I can talk to Piper about this. I'm sure she wouldn't mind you leaving her for me."

"Unfortunately," A new voice came in. _Annabeth._ "I would. Now get back to work and Leo, is this a B5 or a C2?"

"A6." He chuckled and Annabeth huffed, sounding frustrated. The clicks of tools then followed as both Leo and Annabeth resumed their work.

A deep sigh followed from Jason. "Anyway," he continued. "I'll give you a run over what's happened so far."

Piper chuckled. _Classic Jason. Has to go straight to mission reports._

"Percy, Frank and I are keeping watch here." He said. "Leo only trusts Annabeth and Nyssa to do the job right, so they're tackling the circuits. We've already shut down half of the North-East wing of the ship without anyone noticing." He hummed as he tried to recall more information. "Hazel has given us regular signals that she's okay out with Arion." He chuckled. "Smart of her, too, with Frank constantly doing his silent worrying. I mean, she's grown up flying that pod and has gone through many battles with it too. Any more worrying from Frank will just be downright insulting."

He paused.

"I'm still a little miffed that Chiron didn't allow you to attend this mission." He said. "With you here, avoiding the enemies would've been ten times easier." He sighed dramatically. "And I fear I am losing my sanity with these people! Where are you Pipes?" He whined.

Piper grinned. And like that she spent an hour in her room listening to his hourly reports, her face starting to hurt with the smile that cracked it.

A beep sounded from the device and she gasped. She pressed the button and waited for the sound to filter through.

"This is the fifth hour and please, please tell me you're listening." Jason's voice was frantic. "We're in Arion on our way back but we have a bit of a tail on us."

"A bit?" Percy shouted.

"Okay, okay." Jason said. "We might've brought a fleet of podships as a welcoming present and—"

A boom echoed through and Piper sat, horrified, as she listened to the screams that followed.

"Leo, shoot!" Annabeth ordered. "Their weak spots are their engines. Hazel, take us through an Asteroid Field."

Piper's feet had already begun moving as she listened.

"What?" Hazel cried.

"We'll lose our tail that way." Annabeth said.

"No, but we need to go back to the ship." Jason shouted. "We need to—"

"We can't go back to the ship with a tail."

Piper dodged a few cadets, ramming her shoulder against the door of the hallway for it to open as she cradled the device in her hands.

"They're going in that direction anyway and we need to warn them."

"This message is a warning enough." Annabeth replied with a firm voice. "And Admiral Chiron isn't stupid. He'll find out himself."

"And if he doesn't?" Frank asked, his voice painting out his anxiety.

"He will." Annabeth ground out.

The voice recorded ended. It didn't matter. Piper was already at the ship command room.

Everyone looked to her as she entered and for once in her life, she didn't care about the attention. She strode to the announcement phone and, ignoring the protests of the person at the station, she grabbed it and put it in front of her mouth.

"This is Lieutenant Piper Mclean," She said. "Podships from Atlas are headed this way after Arion, which will be going through the Asteroid Field to get here." She saw Reyna, a commander, cross her arms as she stared at Piper, a frown taking over her face. "I want the East Wing to be monitoring and ready with the doors for Arion to come back safely and the weapons' commanders to ready the missiles should the enemy podships breach our fifty metre radius barrier." She took a deep breath. "All sectors must be manned and prepped including my sector, Sector 10, and the satellite signals must be very carefully monitored." She paused. "That…is all." She finished lamely.

She then lifted her head slowly to meet the eyes of her seniors as they watched her with blank faces and…wow, were there many people in the room. She cleared her throat awkwardly as she tried her best to be invisible. But the eyes were firmly glued onto her. They wouldn't stop staring. She met Admiral Chiron's eyes and quickly looked away, very mildly ashamed.

The silence was broken by Reyna. "What are all you looking at?" She demanded. "You heard her. Get to work."

Immediately, the tension was broken, and the room was instead broken by shuffling and the hustle of the room.

Chiron approached her, a smile on his face. Piper's eyebrow furrowed, her eyes widening slightly. She saluted and gulped as he neared. He glanced at the device in her hand and winked.

"Funny how it only gives useful information when you have it." He said. "And good job." He added, gesturing to the announcement phone.

He must have kept it for four hours before giving it to her to monitor the updates, she realised.

Piper nodded in thanks and gestured to the whole of the ship. "The ship needs you, sir. My sector needs me."

He nodded and walked briskly away, shouting commands.

Piper made her way out of the room, meeting Reyna's eyes and returning her nod before sprinting down the hallway, taking lefts and rights before she reached her sector. She slammed open the door and entered, meeting all of their stares and nodding to their salutes.

"Okay," she said. "I want everyone to be prepped and ready. Get your gear on and meet me in the common room in five minutes."

Mitchell, her second-in-command, threw Piper's gear to her and she swiped it, dashing to change.

* * *

"They've done quite a good job." Rachel nodded in approval as they watched the feed they received from the satellite.

The massive giant of a ship moved slowly, sparks flying from the right, where the motor was supposed to be running, half of the ship faltering, the windows flapping open and closed, messing with the gravity inside the Atlas, causing the ship to tip up and down as it practically tumbled through space.

Piper grinned in reply, proud of her friends.

She was in her uniform, a full suit with a high zipped up neck that flared to make a sort of collar. The suit was in full crimson, three dull gold stripes running across her back from shoulder to shoulder and two racing down with the zip which ended at her navel. The gold stripes displayed her sector leader position and her bronze cuff links were a reminder of her time with Half-Blood forces.

Rachel, a ship advisor, cocked her head as she listened in through her earpiece. She snapped her head to Piper.

"They've arrived." Were the only words Piper heard before she darted to the door, swinging it open and sprinting to the East Wing. _They're here. They're here. They're here. They're here._

She elbowed through the crowd that developed by the exit and stopped at the front, a grin splitting her face as she watched them dust their uniforms and slump against the wall in exhaustion and help each other out of Arion. They looked bruised and a little bloody but they were all there. They were all alive.

An even giddier smile lit her face as a flaxen head popped out of the pod and a lithe, muscular form followed. He scanned the crowd as soon as he exited and returned her grin when he found her. It took a mere four steps (two for Jason) to reach one another and soon she was wrapped in a tight blanket of warmth, her own arms snaking around him and tightening on him too. It was a long yet brief embrace and they soon separated, him poking her cheek with his finger, a familiar gesture that Jason had never lost the habit of.

"Beauty Queen!" Leo whined. "That's not fair! Me first!"

And Piper grinned, pulling away from Jason to hug Leo, knocking him affectionately on the head.

"You so-called world-renowned repair boy," She crossed her arms. "Five hours is a little too long. You're losing your touch."

"Hey I'm called repair boy for a reason. I'm better at fixing things, not tearing them apart." Leo defended, scratching his curls.

"Uh, no." Piper shook her head. "Do you remember my 19th birthday?"

He winced. "I've been trying not to."

Annabeth chuckled. "I don't think any of us want to recall such a horrifying memory."

Piper grinned at her and moved to greet her too with a hug when the ship suddenly shook and she was knocked off her feet.

Screams and yelps followed the slam of her body on the ground when it shook more violently, lights beginning to flicker. She blinked against the dark spots tainting her vision and put a hand on her head against the pain, her head swivelling about to make out the chaos. The stark whiteness of the room had flipped to a dark blue as the fluorescent lights made their last pathetic attempt to light before fusing completely.

She felt a hand on her back and turned to accept Jason's other free one as he helped her up.

"Are you okay?" He asked, glancing at the ceiling where the lights once glowed with a frown.

"I'm fine." She said. She examined him herself to make sure he was okay before peering out the room that led to the hallway. It was completely dark too. "What just happened?"

The answer came in another bang against the ship, causing it to rattle and shake once more.

"The podships," Jason said, snapping his head to the exit they just came through as another boom reverberated through the ship. "They caught up."

Piper's eyes widened. She whispered a curse before darting out of the room and down the hall, Jason following close behind her.

The ship's alarms began to whine, the bright red flashing on the walls as Piper dashed past them. People moved around, disoriented, some panicked and most sprinting, shouting orders. The booms and rattles of the ship continued, so repetitive that it dulled to the back of her head. She dodged a few cadets and slipped into a right turn that lead down to the command room.

Reyna straightened from her position bent over the control panel. The massive screen filling the whole wall displayed an image of dots—perhaps they represented the podships—flying towards the large arc at the bottom of the screen—the ship, maybe. There was another arc in red a little far from the image of their ship that, if passing by it, towards the ship, turned the dots red and goodness were there many red dots.

Piper pointed at the red dots. "Podships closer than the fifty metre barrier?"

Reyna nodded. "Correct, and the numbers keep increasing."

Another wave of pods barrelled into the ship, causing another shake, and an eruption of colourful curses spilled out of Jason's mouth. "We need to gather the forces." He told Reyna. "Fire the lasers, send pods to retaliate. _Something._ "

Reyna leaned over the panel and typed a series of codes. "We're working on it," she said. "But that last mission took quite a lot of energy out of the ship and we haven't had time to recharge."

"What about the individual attacks?" Piper suggested and Reyna sent her a dark look.

"That's too dangerous."

She was right. The venturing out into the vacuum of space with only protective suits and gravity boots was suicidal especially against dozens of pods.

"My sector and I have been trained for this." Piper replied. "And there isn't any other way."

She even had a little secret she'd been working on to perfect their attacks. A small but efficient weapon that would destroy many ships at a time.

"We've lost too many soldiers now," Reyna fixed her with a stern look. "There's no use in losing any more."

"We'll lose a whole ship of people if we don't do something now!"

"Wait," Jason interrupted them. "The barrier has a sort of gravity, right?"

Both Reyna and Piper nodded.

"Then why don't we remove the barrier," he started, and raised his voice when Reyna moved to interrupt, "And disorient them a little before putting the barrier back up."

Reyna sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't like this." She groaned.

"Where's the admiral?" Piper asked.

"Dealing with the forces." Reyna sighed once more and, without ceremony, flipped a red switch and removed the barrier.

There was a boom, but not one that vibrated the room. Piper moved to the closest window she could find and watched the podships outside lose control and tilt and sway like puppets on a loose string. As they began to right themselves and adapt to the vacuum, Piper called.

"Put it back on!"

And Reyna locked the barrier in place once more and Piper watched as the podships shook once more, righting their balance, the quick change disorienting them. Piper smiled and looked at Jason, who beamed back at her like a child being praised for his work. She chuckled, shaking her head, and went to Reyna, who'd become quite amused in her job of switching on and off barriers.

But the amusement diffused when shrill screams and shrieks filled the ship. Reyna moved from her place at the panel to the door, her braid slipping behind her shoulder as she popped her head out. Piper and Jason both moved forwards, frowning, when Reyna snapped her head back, a green light shooting where her head had been mere milliseconds ago.

She turned, panting, her eyes wide. "They're inside the ship!"

"How?" Piper exclaimed, startling when Jason pushed past her to the panel. He pressed a button and the screen split into two columns. On the left was a map of the ship and the right showed the CCTV footage of each wing.

Piper stood behind him and examined the screens. Utter chaos was the South Wing, as was the West, and Piper tensed at the amount of enemy soldiers invading. They wouldn't stop coming. Like cockroaches, they slipped out of narrow hallways, through port windows, never-ending in number and all but eradicating the Half-Blood soldiers fighting there.

"We need to do something!" Piper turned to Reyna. "We need to help evacuate them from there."

Reyna kept her stony face tilted up to the screens. Her mouth tightened at every kill and she strode to the panel. "Both of you ready the soldiers." She bent over the array of buttons. "I'm closing the gates of the West and South Wings."

"But—" Piper protested.

"The sooner you get the troops ready, the sooner we can evacuate our soldiers and gas the enemies." Reyna cut her off with a firm voice. "For now, we need to keep the intruders from spilling in."

Jason nodded. "Keep your earpieces on too." He said to everyone. "For now that's our only way of communicating secretly."

Reyna nodded and adjusted her earpiece, Piper doing the same.

"Now go." Ordered Reyna.

Piper and Jason nodded, making their way to the door, Jason's hand on the small of her back.

As the door slowly slid open, both of them slipped out their guns. They nodded to each other a split second before the door opened before they slid out of the control room, Jason slamming the button for it to close as soon as they both made it out.

It was utter pandemonium outside, the hallway a battlefield of war cries and lasers, slams of bodies and the cracks of bullets. Piper ducked as a bullet flew towards her, spinning back up to shoot back before darting to the closest cover she could find—a potted plant. She would laugh at the absurdity later once her life wasn't in danger. Moving a little, she angled herself so she could see Jason. He was battling hand-to-hand with an unarmed intruder, ducking when he slammed his fist forward, landing a blow to the intruder's gut. Why was he being noble now? He should've just slipped his gun out and ended it. She sighed, moving her gun a little out of cover to carefully aim it at the enemy soldier, her eyes occasionally darting for any threat.

Stop moving Jason, she cried internally. I need to get room for a shot.

Her gun mirrored the soldier's movements, moving down when he ducked, turning to the side when he moved, shooting up when he jumped. Goodness, would both of them just stop moving? They kept—ah, he had Jason cornered, none of them moved.

This was her shot. It was one shot.

As her finger moved to the trigger, a bullet zooming from her right ripped through her hand and she screamed, dropping the gun. Jason's head snapped to her as she shrieked and he narrowly missed a life-threatening blow. She slammed herself back, taking full cover from the potted plant, tears of pain streaming down her face. Her hands were completely bloody, red dripping onto the floor, and she couldn't move them without feeling as if a mace was smashing it. She squinted through the blood and the agony and found that…she was missing two fingers from her left hand. Her ring finger symbolically remained intact, her ring covered in blood but unharmed. She took shuddering breaths, rocking herself, the battle completely disappearing from her mind as she drowned in pain.

Until a figure moved into her vision and she shouted, her leg moving to defend herself.

Jason blocked, showing her it was him before crouching down to examine her, his gaze full of raw concern. He gasped when his eyes caught her mutilated hands and he surged forward, taking them carefully in his.

"Oh my gods," He breathed, his voice shuddery. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm right here."

He reached forward and wiped her tears, one hand gentle yet firm on her wrists. He moved to help her up when she stopped him.

"Switch on my earpiece." She said weakly.

Jason frowned, moving his finger to her ear to switch it on.

She took a deep breath against the pain. "S-sector 10." Her voice, though a mere whisper, was steady. "Mitchell. I want you take charge until I arrive and move forward with Plan 14A. We have intruders plaguing the ship and we need to keep them away. I will be arriving there as soon as possible. All of Sector 10 copy?"

Dozens of voices replied in her ear. "Copy."

She then nodded to Jason and allowed him to help her up. He reached behind her to cup her back and kept one hand clasped around her wrist, careful not to press her hands. They both rose together and he took a gun out, his other hand still holding her wrist, keeping her close.

His body acted as a shield due mainly to his size that covered her from the blows and lasers and bullets that filled the air. Concerned for his wellbeing, she wrapped an arm around his waist, flinching when her hand bumped against him, and pulled him close, making sure to run it around to feel for any injuries. She played seer too, making herself useful in some way, telling Jason where to dodge, shoot and when to take cover. Occasionally her leg would shoot out to defend them, kicking back any threat that moved too close and Jason would look at her with a quirk of his lips, amused. She kept the blinding pain at bay, though barely. Any movement they would make, any dodge or sudden turn, would result in the pain spiking from her hands and Jason resting his cheek on her head, breaking into many apologies.

A female soldier came too close once, too. She ran at them like a bull, her gun out, and fired shots that they narrowly missed, a bullet nicking at the side of Jason's neck and one catching his thigh. Piper shoved herself with her elbows away from him and into cover. He was covering her so much he was getting hurt and she wouldn't allow that. He reached for her, startled, but she shook her head and gestured at the soldier, who was slowly recovering from the blow Jason landed on her stomach with his fist.

While Jason dealt with his opponent, Piper jumped when one came too close to her. He practically straddled her, both of them hidden behind her cover, her legs pinned down by his body. The flash of his knife was the one thing she saw before he jumped forward and she ducked into the forward arc his body made as he surged forward, her head slamming into his chest, pushing him away.

Momentarily.

He recovered too quickly and zoomed forward quicker and Piper felt fear grapple onto her heart. A knife was a much slower death than a bullet. A more painful death than the quick flash of a laser. She didn't want to die by a knife. She didn't want to die.

And there was no damn way to defend herself.

She heaved a deep breath and met his eyes before he brought the blade forward. My legs are free, she realised. She stole a quick glance at her legs and the man's position. _Well if I'm going to die I better die with a bang._

And up her foot went, striking him right where it hurts, and relishing in his scream of pain, meeting his blade, as momentum carried him forward, with a smirk.

But suddenly a form shoved him to the side and Piper leaned back as the form hit the ground with the man, her eyes wide. She turned her head to see Jason, dusting his hands and running to her.

"Did you just," She stared at him incredulously. "throw her?"

He shrugged. "Perhaps."

"You're a little scary, fiancé." She said as he helped her up.

"Not as scary as you." He gave her a grin, shaking his head. "I mean, the poor guy can probably never have children now."

"Well," she said with disgust. "Assuming the fact someone is actually willing to take a guy who plays with knives."

"Touché."


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back. Sorry for the late update. But here's Chapter 2**

All his life Jason had been nagged to become a medic.

His mother had never agreed to Jason's stepmother's dreams of him becoming a great hero like the Graces in the past and she always wanted someone with medical knowledge in the house so whenever she'd had seizures or urges, there would've been someone there to diagnose her and help her. Jason never agreed with her, though. He'd always outright refused, his dreams of being a pilot or a Half-blood fighter too strong for him to give up.

He now so desperately wished he'd agreed with her.

Piper was trembling all over, bent over her broken hands, her face twisting in agony and Jason couldn't stand it. He wanted so badly to help her, to maybe fix her, but he knew nothing about medicine.

They slipped into a secret, dimly lit hallway that was entirely secluded and actually a corridor of pipes and wires that the mechanics and workers went through to fix any faults. It was a dangerous corridor, especially for Jason with his thigh wound and with that, a limp, but far less than the hallways where the enemy were. By the looks of the footprints on the floor, he assumed people had already used it to get safely inside and he was glad. There were very few people from the ship out there with the enemy, meaning most of them got back safely.

He sighed guiltily. The ones that were out there weren't going to make it and Jason had left them all. He'd fought as many as he could but not enough. They kept coming, hurting and killing and he wasn't enough to help them. He needed to get Piper to the infirmary where she could get her hands sorted and wouldn't leave her to go alone.

They moved forward, making their way to the gates to the North Wing. They both stayed quiet, side-by-side, their thoughts a world in their heads, the silence between them a tether.

Broken by the thud of Piper's legs tripping over a loose pipe jutting from the wall. Jason righted her, grabbing her by the waist and she looked at him gratefully. There was no way she could do it herself with the state her hands were in. A clink followed the thud of her trip and they both looked down at the ring bouncing onto the floor, rolling away.

Jason bent down to retrieve it, flinching at the spike of pain shooting from his thigh, his fingers closing over the silver band, a small simple diamond in the middle. A ghost of a smile lifted his face and he rose, turning to slide it back on her finger when he flinched at the sight. There was no way he was touching her hand. Knowing himself, he would accidentally break it further and he was not going to risk it. She already said yes when he proposed, she didn't have to have it on display to keep proving it. So he slipped it into the pocket of his mission suit and moved to continue forward.

"Your leg?" Piper's voice had him pause. She bent to examine the wound. "Are you all right?"

He shrugged. "It isn't that deep, it'll heal quickly." He held her elbows and gently stood her straight. That got her eyes straying to the slash at the side of his neck.

He met her concerned gaze with a huff and a glance to her bad hands and she rolled her eyes in return.

They silently treaded past multiple doors that were like bumps in the walls of the hallway, reading each number, concluding it wasn't their destination, and continuing forward. Jason had momentarily paused before a specific door that Piper nudged him to ignore. _Door 010—EX._ A forgotten area of the ship where no one ventured. It was one of the only areas of the ancient ship that hadn't been renovated like the rest of the sleek and shiny hallways and command rooms. A perfect place to hide something.

Jason hoped Piper didn't notice his lingering gaze on the door. He needed to check through there soon—without her knowing. Because no one knew. It was a secret between him and the admiral. A prisoner they kept hostage from the enemy ship Atlas that was the source of their information. Prisoner X was what both of them called her. Or him. Jason could never tell. Mostly due to the fact that the prisoner wore a new face each time he visited them. The faces weren't random faces either. They completely unsettled him. The prisoner would wear his mother's face, his sister's face, his friends' faces and sometimes even Piper's. Their conversations would be short and sharp and so would his patience and he would always dread going through that door down the hallways and meeting X.

It was a few more minutes before they reached the gate to the North Wing that was currently bolted shut. He and Piper moved to the gap on the right where the gate ended and the wall continued. He pressed his hand against it, sliding it around before he came across a circular indent. He pressed his thumb within the indent and the wall beeped. A rectangular part of the wall slid open, revealing the North Wing, and Jason gently prodded Piper in before getting in himself, sliding the door back shut behind him.

The whole Wing had become an infirmary, rows upon rows of makeshift beds filling the entirety of the floor, medics tending to all the injured soldiers. The sounds of bandages unwrapping, medics speaking gently with their patients and the overall chatter of the area wove into a constant hum that was so different to the silent emptiness that the West Wing was.

Jason quickly walked Piper to a familiar face as soon as he spotted him.

"Will," Jason called and Will turned around, a relieved smile on his face when he saw that they were okay that melted into a concerned widening of the eyes when he caught sight of Piper's mutilated hands.

He strode quickly to them, grabbing a cloth on the way. "What happened?" He asked, his voice low as he gently took her hands and placed them in the cloth he brought.

Piper's brow furrowed and she moved her eyes from her hands in Will's to look at him. "Sorry?" She panted as he accidentally held a wrong finger.

Will winced. "Sorry." He replied. "I was asking how this happened."

"Bullet." Piper replied, visibly suppressing a gasp of pain.

"I'll help her," Will reassured him, "You get yourself tended."

He nodded and limped to the closest free medic. She asked few questions as she extracted the bullet—Jason grunted in pain—and cleaned the wound. His mind was on Prisoner X. What if X had something to do with the satellite attacks? Piper had informed him about the satellite attacks that the admiral warned her about and from what he calculated the attacks were before they were caught and chased down by the enemy. Perhaps during an interrogation he might've slipped the mission with Squad 107 and X contacted Atlas and informed them of that. He wasn't one to brag but he knew, as everyone did, that Squad 107—Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Piper and himself—were one of the strongest Squads in Half-Blood Forces. It was only this mission that Nyssa replaced Piper but even then with one of the best forces out of the ship, it was a great opportunity to attack.

But how did they know to use that opportunity?

He thanked the medic, grabbed a wipe to clean the blood off his neck, and approached Piper, Will carefully tending to her hands, his eyes concentrated.

"I have to go," He said to her. "The ship—"

Piper nodded, her eyes with the same worry as his of the people left outside. "Go," she said. "I'll be fine here."

Jason nodded, leaning forward to press a kiss on her forehead. "You better be." He poked her cheek before turning around and heading to the exit.

He spared a last look back at her—she lifted her hand to wave, flinched, and thought better of it—before slipping out the door and pounding down the corridor. What she didn't know was that the worry in his eyes wasn't only because of the people left out. But of the single person tucked away behind Door 010—EX. He needed to find out what X planned to do.

He stopped at the door that led him back to the actual hallways, his gun out, pressing himself against the wall as he slowly slid out and jumped out, gun brandished.

There was no one there. Jason frowned, straightening, his head swivelling about. How? The place was swarming with soldiers not too long ago. How is there no one there? Where did they all go?

He jogged down the hallway, his eyes on the floor. Most of the bodies on the floor were the young cadets and most were just knocked out. The ones that weren't—Jason shook his head. He wasn't going to allow himself to dwell on that. All he needed to think was that there were more of the enemy out there and more soldiers he needed to help protect. But where was the enemy? Where did they slip out and how?

Jason shook his head and continued forward, freezing when the pounding of footsteps reached his ears. He practically melted into the walls and moved slowly, slowing more at the T the hallways formed, his gun drawn out. The footsteps became louder and louder and Jason knew whoever the person was, they would be passing the junction he was at. He stayed perfectly still and allowed the person to come closer, closer, the pounding now echoing through the hall when he shot his leg out.

 _Slam._

Their face met the floor in a not so affectionate embrace, their feet tangling with Jason's stray one and Jason clicked his gun in emphasis. The form stiffened and Jason frowned when he got a closer look at it.

Another set of footsteps sounded to his right. "Percy, I told you to wait—Jason?"

Jason straightened. "Annabeth." He tucked his gun into the holster at his hip. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at her. "You guys are okay."

"I'm not." A muffled voice replied and Jason chuckled, leaning down to help Percy up. Percy rubbed his forehead, a glare sent Jason's way. "Could you not look before you trip?"

"Could you not be subtle about your expeditions through the ship?" Jason replied. "Goodness you were so damn loud, you would've been dead in a second."

"But there's no one here." Percy scratched his head, frowning at the entirety of the ship.

"Which is really odd." Annabeth sighed. "What were they here for? I mean, why did they come and leave so quickly? And how?"

Her questions echoed all of Jason's worries.

"Maybe they've been gathered somewhere." Percy said.

"How have we not noticed then?" Jason asked.

"I don't know." Annabeth shook her head. She brushed back some stray hairs that escaped her ponytail. "We need to find the Admiral, though."

A crackling in his earpiece interrupted his reply and he frowned, cocking his head, catching the other two doing the same. "This is your Admiral speaking. All able soldiers report to the Centre Sector immediately. Take any other able soldiers with you and take the injured to the infirmary on your way. I repeat, all able soldiers report to the Centre Sector immediately. Any other able soldiers will be coming with you and the injured must be taken to the infirmary."

The three of them looked helplessly at the litter of bodies surrounding them.

"It's going to take hours to see who's alive and able and who isn't." Jason said.

Percy sighed. "Then we better get to it quickly."

"They're technically all injured, though." Annabeth pointed out. "And we can't force unconscious people awake so why don't we take everyone to the infirmary?"

Jason and Percy exchanged appreciative glances. "I don't know whether to feel stupid or appreciate your thinking."

Annabeth didn't reply, adjusting her ear piece, her gaze focused, before her eyes cleared when she found the right frequency and she strode down the hallway. "Yes, Will." She said. "I'm going to need a small unit of soldiers to carry the wounded and unconscious to the infirmary…" Her voice became more distant and she continued her pacing. "Yes, we're in hallway 3A—W. The bodies are quite spread across…"

Jason and Percy just stood there, silently waiting. Percy glanced up at Jason.

"Where's Piper?" He asked. "I saw you two running from the East Wing exit but I didn't see her anywhere again."

Jason closed his eyes briefly. "She's in the infirmary. Will's tending to her."

"What happened?" Percy's brow furrowed in concern.

"Bullet wound. In her hands. She's missing two fingers." He said them shortly, not having the will or strength to say it all together.

Percy's eyes bugged out all the same. "What!" He exclaimed. "Is she all right?"

Jason nodded slowly. "At least I hope she'll be." He said quietly. "Losing fingers…especially here working in Half-Blood." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "She's not going to take it well."

Percy shook his head.

"Guys," Annabeth reappeared from around the corner. "Will's men are coming here to…clean the mess." She checked her watch. "The admiral just told me we were to be there in two minutes so come on."

A crackling filled Jason's right ear once more. "Jason," he heard the admiral's voice. "Go to X and deal with him." Or her. The pronouns kept changing.

Jason nodded and stopped Percy and Annabeth. "I'm not coming." He told them. "I'll be there in a while, okay?"

Annabeth frowned and her mouth opened but before a question spilled out, Percy placed his hand on her elbow, gesturing to go, and she nodded, gave Jason a wave and left.

Jason sighed. On to his least favourite part of the week.

"You came!" X cried in delight in his space in the corner. "I was getting a little worried that you died with all the commotion I've heard happening."

Jason closed the door behind him. "Still breathing." He said.

"Surprisingly." He replied. He because—Jason turned around to lean against the wall and stopped short—it was Nico's face he had to face today.

His fists slowly clenched, his teeth grit.

X paused at Jason's anguished face. He mock-frowned, looking himself over. "Did I not do it right?" He muttered, his hands patting his faded aviator jacket.

Nico—who Jason didn't know was alive or dead after his disappearance after Bianca's death a year ago. Or at least Jason hoped was just her death. Any alternative in her situation was worse. She was claimed by Kronos's second-in-command, the promise-maker, they called him. He made a promise to take a specific person every month and that same night they would disappear and no matter what they did, they could never save the people chosen. After Bianca's name was called and she disappeared, Nico did everything to bring her back before failing and fleeing. And no one had seen him since.

How Prisoner X knew of him was beyond Jason. But he'd learned not to ask. He merely composed his features and eyed X with a stony expression. "So," he crossed his arms. "Is it telepathy?"

Nico's face rippled as X paused in confusion. "Sorry?"

"I check you over every week to make sure you're not armed in any way and I'm sure you have no communicating device." Jason narrowed his eyes. "So what I want to ask is how you're communicating with Atlas."

X rolled his eyes. "I'm not." He said. "I'm not the reason they came here."

"Then why did they?" Jason inquired. Other than me practically leading them here.

"Well, I wouldn't know since I'm practically _stuck_ here with you." X looked at him pointedly, his chin jutting out.

There was always something familiar in X's mannerisms, a familiarity Jason couldn't quite place. Talking to X felt so normal, the way X acted and his mannerisms and movements like a code already downloaded into Jason's brain.

"Well," Jason ran a hand through his hair, pausing when he caught X's eyes lingering on the movement. "I was…thinking maybe they came here for a rescue mission."

X smirked. "Afraid you're going to lose me?" He teased.

"Afraid they're going to do more damage than necessary." The image of Piper's hands flew into his head and he supressed a wince.

X propped his chin on his palm, watching Jason carefully. "What type of damage?"

Jason didn't reply, pushing off the wall. "Well, you seem to be utterly useless to me right now." He said as he made his way to the door. "So I'm—"

A light blinded him and Jason stumbled back, startled. He lifted his right hand where the light emanated—his touchstrap. An image hovered above the screen of the touchstrap and Jason frowned, pressing a finger to the screen and aiming his hand to the wall before him.

The image jumped and latched onto the wall, Jason's hand a sort of projector now. His heart stopped when he caught sight of the masked face of the promise-maker.

He heard X gasp behind him but he didn't have the strength to switch the projector off. It was time. A month had gone past and it was time for the next name he would call.

"Greetings Half-blood forces." The promise-maker grinned. "Have you been anticipating my visit as much as I have?"

Jason stood very still, his face tense and stony.

"Okay, let me just cut to the chase." He said. "My forces have infiltrated your ship and are lurking in the very cracks and corners. I must commend Squad 107 for their tremendous efforts. Not only did they dismantle most of our ship but they also led us to another ship we can use instead. My deepest gratitude to all of you."

Jason cursed, clenching his fists.

"Now," he continued. "To my favourite part of my visits."

Jason held his breath.

"My forces have scoured this ship and taken a good look at each and every one of you, making my job much much easier." He hummed. "And I do have to thank them as they found quite a catch for me to take."

His eyes seemed to be burning into Jason as if he could see him and a malicious grin split his face.

"Piper Mclean."


	3. Chapter 3

Piper stilled completely when she heard her name, the breath knocked straight out of her.

All eyes were on her, pity for her and relief that they weren't called themselves on their faces. Piper's heart thundered and she found it hard to breathe, heaving deep breaths and trying to calm herself as much as possible.

 _Piper Mclean._

It was the first time she ever wished that wasn't her name. She wished it wasn't tethered to her, that she didn't recognise it. Wished that it didn't spill out of the promise-maker's mouth.

It was over. Her luck had run out. Time had run out for her.

She faintly registered Will's hands on her shoulders, barely heard his voice but felt all eyes burning into her. She saw some of her friends from Sector 10 watching her, their eyes glimmering with tears and other people she'd become friends with bowing their heads, their faces tensed.

She couldn't hide it. She was afraid.

Terrified.

She didn't know what would happen, didn't know how she'd be taken, how she'd be treated, how she'd be broken and it was the blindness of it that terrified her. There was nothing to come to terms with because there was nothing she knew that would happen. She shut her eyes and counted to one hundred, counted backwards and counted again until she was calm enough to form coherent answers to all the questions Will was throwing at her.

"Piper, talk to me, are you okay?"

She heaved a deep breath, before meeting his eyes. "I'm—" _not_ "—okay"

"Come, s-sit down," he offered her a chair and eased her down. "You don't want to move around too much. Your…your hands—you…"

And he trailed off stammering. He was nervous, she could read that as easily as she could hear the four syllables repeating in her head. _Piper Mclean. Piper Mclean. Piper Mclean._

She shut her eyes. No. She wasn't going to cower, waiting for him to get her. She was going to use this to her advantage.

Her heart hammered in her chest and she inhaled a deep, shaky breath, shutting her eyes and damming the tears.

 _Somehow._

* * *

Jason slammed open the door, ready to sprint despite his injured leg, when X's voice interrupted.

"How long have these…The _promises_ been happening?" Her voice sounded shaky, though he didn't know why. He turned back to see X wearing Piper's face and it took all his control not to shout. Was X _taunting_ him with Piper's face now?

He grit his teeth. "A year now."

"Ever since I was taken." Her voice was hushed. She looked back up at him desperately. "Was there any pattern in the people he took?"

Jason paused, his anger still simmering beneath the surface. "Stop it." He said.

X frowned. "Sorry?"

"Turn into yourself or something!" He glared at her. "Stop taunting me!"

X stopped and glanced down at her form. "Jason," she said, her voice soft. "This _is_ me."

"Shut up!" He clenched his fists. " _Turn into something else._ "

"Answer my question first." She said.

He turned around so he wouldn't have to look at her. "We haven't found any pattern but he seems to _love_ taking people I care about."

X paused. "People…Piper might've known too?"

Jason scowled. "I mean, of course. He wants to make our lives hell."

"Oh gosh." She whispered, her voice trembling.

"What?" Jason swivelled around. "What do you know?"

Piper's face looked up at him. "She'll be the last to be taken."

"What? How do you know?"

"Because he's been looking for her for a year." She said. "And now he's found her."

Jason walked towards her. "What are you talking about?"

She buried her head in her arms. "I didn't think he'd go that far." She breathed. "He's out of control."

Jason dropped to his knees and grabbed her shoulders. " _What are you talking about?_ "

"No one knows I'm here, right?" X asked.

Jason paused, clenching his fists in order to keep calm. "Yes."

She sighed. "I'm telling you this only because I care about my idiotic—"

The ship shook and faltered and Jason shot to his feet as the lights flickered. What was he doing here? He needed to get to Piper _._ The enemy was in the ship and her name was promised and he stayed here with X too long. He needed to get to her.

Jason barely heard X's calls as he shot out the already opened door, limping down the hallway.

 _Piper Mclean._

He'd already lost Thalia. Already lost Nico. Already lost Dakota.

He wasn't going to lose Piper.

He punched the button for the door to open and ran down the piped hallways, narrowly escaping tripping over loose wires and pipes. Doors flew past him as he limped down the corridor, his heart ringing in his ears.

His hand was snatched back with such force that he swivelled around and met kaleidoscopic eyes.

He was riveted to the spot at the sight of Piper and relieved that she was all right and his arms began to curve forward to crush her against him when the details of her clothes tore his eyes away.

It was the same battered old grey jumpsuit he and Chiron had chucked into the cell for her to wear.

 _X._

He stepped back and the large rectangle of light illuminating the dark hallway had him curse himself. He left the door open.

"Jason," X drew out slowly, as if she was trying to tame him.

But he wasn't offended by that. He knew he was unstable. His mind was a muddled mess of thoughts, Piper's face the only clear and recurring image imprinted.

X, with Piper's calm and kind eyes, reached for his forearm, her thumb finding the skin on the inside, just below the crevice of the arm, stroking slowly in single circles.

It calmed him too. A recurring motion to focus on in his maelstrom of thoughts.

He peered at her. Was it because she had taken Piper's form was she able to do that? Able to calm him and know how to? Able to know he wasn't calm in the first place?

Either way, she wasn't Piper.

And he only felt a little regret when he saw the hurt in her eyes, the eyes that he wanted to get to, as he pulled roughly away.

"Turn back." He ordered.

She glanced behind her at the spill of light from her cell room. "Literally?"

He cursed himself for chuckling, caught the bubble of laughter in his throat. But her eyes brightened and she offered him a small grin, to which he, on instinct, had the impulse to grin back to.

What was he doing?

An image of Piper—his Piper—frightened and in pain with her mutilated hands seared through his brain and he grit his teeth.

He looked up at X, at her features so similar to Piper's, and clenched his fists. "Stop…wearing her face." His voice was hoarse.

Her lips trembled and she gulped, turning away, though Jason caught the glimmer of tears in her eyes. His heart trembled but he tensed himself. She was manipulating him. She was using Piper to manipulate him.

He wouldn't allow her.

Though his heart was set with panic and his legs shook with the need to run, he grabbed X by the shoulders and walked her back down the piped hallway, his self-control wavering with each step back. He pushed her through Door 010—EX and closed it behind him, continuing down the old hallways towards her cell.

X said nothing, though knowing Piper and her firm set of the shoulders, Jason knew she was in deep thought. That she was contemplating something, considering something. Jason thought back to her words before— _she'll be the last to be taken—_ and stopped.

She said the promises began when she was taken. That it was people he and Piper knew that he took. That he was looking for her and she would be the last. He thought back to what she said— _this_ is _me._

Breathing became difficult.

At his halt, X turned around, albeit slowly. Her eyes held a conclusion. She'd made a decision.

"Jason," she said slowly, "I have to tell you something."

* * *

Piper had gathered quite a tail.

She sneaked a glance behind her at the determined faces, the pursed lips, the solemn eyes. They just began following her silently as she wordlessly made her way to the Command Room through the piped hallways, people upon people piling up, not a word uttered.

Perhaps they were following her to see her next move? Maybe sticking to her because all the promised's were taken when alone? Either way, though she was flattered, the attention behind her was making her back tingle. And making her doubt what she was about to do.

A little.

She sighed. She wanted Jason by her side now. She wanted his warmth, his easy smile, his care and just someone to kiss away her fears. But more for comfort she wanted him for courage, for advice on how to deal with this, for support on doing it, for opinion on whether she should do it at all. Because as partners in crime, as an unbeatable duo, a team, they were stronger together.

And she was in dire need of strength right now.

The same strength she lacked when Lacy from her sector broke the silent barrier and spoke to her, asking where she was going.

She'd struggled to reply then because she wasn't even sure about what she was going to do. The self-doubt had clouded her and stolen her voice.

After that, no one said anything, them probably thinking she was too afraid and emotional to speak.

And in a way, she was. She was terrified. The fear had a vice-like grip on her heart, the terror shaking her limbs. It took all her strength to put one foot in front of the other and even then her mind plagued her. Plagued her with the memory of Jason's warmth, of her father's understanding, of Leo's grin, of Annabeth's support, of Percy's mirth, of Hazel's comfort, of Frank's compassion and the list went on and on until it threatened her dam of tears to break.

No.

She couldn't allow herself to think of them. Not when the thoughts were packaged as if she were to never see them again. She would take strength from the memories of her loved ones, not weakness. She numbly moved her bandaged hand to her left ring finger only to freeze when it brushed not a smooth band of metal but the roughness of the dressing. Jason had her ring. She felt a sort of hollowness inside her without it. She shut her eyes and pressed her lips into a thin line. Strength not weakness.

A deep breath filled her up and straightened her spine, lifted her chin and pushed her forward.

Until a figure speeding from her right knocked her down.

She groaned, blowing the stray curl that fell onto her face away, smacking the head that came from it with her forearm.

The form didn't budge, its arms tight around her neck, its head buried into her shoulder.

"Leo," Piper croaked. "Don't kill me just yet."

How he found her after more than an hour since they saw one another by the East exit was beyond her. Perhaps Nyssa from the tail behind her contacted him. It didn't matter how, though. She was glad for his presence.

Leo pulled back and Piper blinked when she felt something cold drop on her cheeks. She looked into his teary eyes and huffed. "Stop," she said, "You're going to make _me_ cry."

"Stupid," He flicked her forehead, his lips trembling. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

She choked a laugh and crushed him in a hug, patting his head.

Leo never cried. At least, never in public and rarely about anything other than his mother. Seeing him cry made it hard for Piper to keep control. It wavered the grip she had on her self-control and threatened to break the dam of her tears.

No.

She had to gather strength from her loved ones, not weakness. His tears should push her to continue her stride to the Command Room.

And so she got up and they both stumbled to a stand together, their feet catching on loose wires.

She paused, wiggling.

He'd latched onto her arm and wouldn't let go. Another shake managed to move his hand down to her wrist and he clutched it tight, his fingers almost touching the casts and bandages on her hands. Well, at least it was more comfortable.

She shook her head and continued down, the trail of people silently following them.

So much silence. Leo didn't comment on her hands or the people behind her as he usually would. The people behind her didn't comment on Leo as one would naturally do. No, no one spoke, nor gasped, nor even breathed too loud.

Perhaps they felt the tension too. Like a delicate wire that anything could break. As if, once broken, panic would ensue.

* * *

Reyna shot up from her seat as soon as the door slid open, her gun out.

The startle was justified since Piper slipped in through an inconspicuous door from the piped and wired passage.

And that a herd of footsteps came in behind her.

With wisps of hair in her, dirty, sweaty face, her braid almost undone and the blood on her suit, it was safe to say that Reyna looked haggard. Her eyes, though, struck through the unconvincing appearance. They were like the dark side of the moon, haunted and vengeful, and yet glinted with the light of the stars, the hope that, she, a leader, brought, gleaming through.

"Piper," she started forward, resting a hand on her shoulder, her eyes solemn and expressing more words than their language's vocabulary could offer.

Piper rested her hand atop Reyna's on her shoulder briefly, nodding once, hoping she could express the better part of her tumultuous mind to the Captain with it.

"What do you need?" Reyna asked, getting straight to the point.

Piper inhaled deeply, gathering as much courage from the air as she could. This would be the difficult part, explaining and somehow justifying her mission enough that Reyna would agree and provide her with the necessary supplies. She shut her eyes briefly, thinking of all the people who'd disappeared the way she would soon. Thalia, Bianca, Silena, Charles, Katie, Pollux. She owed them all this when she was unable to do anything before. Because she didn't know if what she was about to do would do anything. She just knew she had to do something.

"I want to proceed in retaliation with an individual attack." Piper finally said, her tone strong and even when her heartbeat wasn't.

She heard gasps erupt behind her and saw Leo whirl towards her in her peripheral vision, his eyes wide.

Reyna didn't even blink. "No."

She huffed. "Captain, I—"

"We talked about this, Mclean," Reyna snarled. "We aren't wasting the lives of our crew with this _useless_ form of offense."

"It'll only be _me._ " _Me,_ whose life isn't valuable enough to waste anymore.

Reyna approached her menacingly. "What is this?" She hissed. "A spiteful suicide mission?"

"Reyna, I know what I'm doing."

"The empty vacuum of space is different from our training grounds. Going out there is foolish."

"Hear me out." She had little to no time and it was time to act. "If he's going to get me then what better way to draw him out than out on unfamiliar terrain? Terrain that I know and am comfortable with."

It was a valid point and Piper knew Reyna knew it with the way she paused, her eyes straying to the ground in thought. She was weighing the odds, albeit begrudgingly with her pursed lips.

Piper felt hope flutter in her chest when Reyna's fists suddenly clenched.

She crossed her arms, her mouth firm, eyes stubborn. "No matter how comfortable you are, your hands are in no shape for this."

Piper toed the floor. She wasn't sure if it would work. But time was meagre and there was no other option. "Ambrosia."

Cue the gasps.

It was a wave of sharp inhales behind her and an "Are you insane?" expressed loudly by Leo in words and Reyna in her eyes.

"We haven't tested Project Ambrosia on any human yet," Kayla from behind her shouted. "Lieutenant Mclean, there are high chances of you burning from the inside out if you take too much. We don't even know how much too much _is_."

"It's worth a shot," Piper replied. "We've tested it on enough subjects to know."

"Subjects being a dog, a bird, a hamster, a fish, a snake and an ape." Leo said from beside her. "I know I've been calling you names lately, but you do know I was joking right?"

"Either way, everything you've suggested to me now is foolish and suicidal and I will not allow this." Reyna gritted out snuffing Piper's flicker of hope.

Piper's impatience morphed into thrashing flames of anger. They were treating her as if she were a mere cadet. As if she hadn't led her Sector from the lowest ranks to one of the highest. As if the bronze cuff links signifying her ten-year service in Half-Blood Forces meant nothing.

And time wasn't on her side.

She whirled around and ignored the discreet steps taken back away from her. Leo's hand had snapped back from her wrist at her sharp turn and he followed, hot on her heels. Shouldering through the crowd, careful not to move her hands too much, she met incredulous eyes with a steady, stubborn gaze.

Though Reyna called out after her, she didn't falter her steps as she made her way back to the piped hallways. For a second it was only two pairs of footsteps echoed in the large, dark hallways and then suddenly dozens of others followed, their footsteps like the raucous beats of a number of unsynchronised drums. Kayla had jogged up and caught Piper by the shoulder, yammering on about the dangers of Ambrosia and how the serum wasn't ready and using big words that Piper didn't care to infer the meaning of. She merely ignored the worried bio-chemist, stomping her way forward, dodging the occasional loose wire or protruding pipe.

It only occurred to Piper when Leo's hand rested on the doorknob that the soldiers from Atlas were still hiding inside the ship.

And she was going to barge in as if it was her father's house.

She nudged Leo before he could open the door and gave him a warning look when he turned to her in question. She knelt and rested her ear against the door, listening carefully.

But Leo shook his head and pulled her back. "Don't worry." He said. "I know these maintenance hallways like the back of my hand. The laboratory doors are always, _always_ locked and can only be opened with a code that only the white coats and—" He shot her a mischievous grin. "— _I_ know."

Her head shook, her lips quirked. Well, of course Leo would be a step ahead of her.

With a snap of his hand and the sharp, spiderlike movement of his fingers on the keypad, the door slid open with a grunt.

She slipped in after him and took in the polished sterile white (dulled to a marble grey due to the lack of light) tables and walls. The laboratory looked like a white canvas, where the walls and tables and chairs were white and the chemicals, serums and formulas were bursting with colour. Neons, charcoals, pastels, any and every hue painting the white canvas with ideas.

Piper scanned the room and took a double-take when a wall covered in papers snuck into her vision. Weaving through the maze-like countertops, she neared the wall, her eyes roaming the entirety of it. As if a murder happened and the detectives would paste together an archive of newspaper clippings and statistics, letters and flyers, the wall was covered in lab test results and magnified pictures of specimen, maths formulae and lists of ingredients.

But that wasn't what caused the entire room to gasp.

Piper always wondered why, unlike other forces, Half-Blood Forces urged their men and women to smile in their profile tag pictures. Perhaps it was because once they were lost, their easily accessible pictures could be used in such a way. Because twelve faces smiled down at her, each causing her to clench her fist further.

"They're all of the promised's." A cadet behind her breathed.

A lump formed in Piper's throat at the sight of them. The promised's. Promised to be taken away by Atlas's second-in-command. Promised no one would touch them by their fellow soldiers. Her face would join theirs if she didn't move quickly.

A shoulder brushed against hers and she turned to see Kayla gazing up at the wall. "Ambrosia was an ancient project that we found on paper in some old files." She said quietly. "The formula was too complex for us to begin working on it so it was left somewhere on a shelf. Then the disappearances began and the death toll kept increasing. It was because of the amount of injuries and deaths that we couldn't fight full force and because we couldn't fight full force that these disappearances regularly happened. These people," Her fist clenched. "They didn't deserve this. They weren't taken through a battle in the way they always thought they would, on their feet. They were caught unawares and taken away needlessly. So we thought…if we could somehow keep our forces solid and strong against Atlas then they wouldn't be at ease enough to take our people through means other than a battle. Through means such as…a promise." Kayla faced Piper and her eyes were weary. "Tweaking ambrosia to its full potential was done with the promised's on our minds. We vowed to create a serum so strong that we would never lose numbers in our forces. That we would never…lose. And never lose more like them."

Kayla's hand reached forward, paused in hesitation, and then moved forward again to peel back the fifth picture. A button hid behind it, small and purple. Her fingers shook as she pressed it and a _whoosh_ followed. Thalia Grace's smirking picture slid with the ones after her to the right until a large rectangular gap was formed, lights flickering on inside. Almost like products in a shop, dozens of syringes were lined up, organised by the colour of the stickers on them. Kayla reached inside and pulled out the one with the orange sticker, swivelling around back to Piper.

She patted Piper's upper arm and Piper nodded, beckoning Kayla to unzip her jumpsuit to her navel. The sleeveless tank top she wore beneath allowed access. Tension swam in the air, created by the held breaths of the entire room. _I could die from this,_ Piper thought. She frowned then, realising she could die either way. She shook her head, gulping as Kayla's shaky hands brought the needle closer and closer until Piper felt a small pinch…

…followed by pulses of agony.

She screamed, backing away from Kayla into the wall behind her, sliding to the floor. Her fingers seemed to break over and over again, the searing pain crackling in her knuckles, her hand, her wrist, her whole arm. All the bones in her hand felt as if they were rearranging, each move of the bone evoking another shriek.

She barely saw the wide, horrified eyes through her tears of pain, barely heard Leo's worried calls through the agony.

"U-undo…the bandages." She whimpered and Leo shot up, removing the bandages from her hands in lightning speed.

A sickening crackling sounded from her hands and her two missing fingers began to grow, erecting horrifyingly from her knuckles.

"Holy shit!" Leo sprang away and similar shouts grew from the crowd.

Piper cried out again and again until the fingers stopped and altogether the pain flashed out.

She slumped against the wall, her head hanging between her shoulders.

Leo and Kayla shot forward, Kayla examining her hands, Leo holding her by the shoulders, repeatedly asking if she was okay. Piper weakly nodded, lifting her hands from Kayla's grasp to her face. She blinked through the tears at the two fingers and unwounded hands. She wiggled the two fingers, gasping.

"It worked."


	4. Chapter 4

**Helllloooo. Okay I didn't put in any author's note in the third chapter so apologise and I'm gonna make up for it now (though really i think author's notes kinda take away from the drama of the story so yeah). Anyway so I wanted to give a shout out to the three people who reviewed. Honestly, when i published the first chapter (since I'm actually an old member through my old account which is still up though i haven't updated the story on it hehehehe) I was gonna be a bit of a snobby female dog and go like humph no second chapter until i get a review. But when none came I was like never mind really, I know that I'm not gonna get a response this early and hey, I like writing this, so let's continue. That said, however, your reviews still got me pumped to write. Anyone who followed, favourited and (ideally) reviewed really played a hand in me writing and editing this to as much of perfection as my excited-to-post self accepted. Most (cough two out of three (literally)) reviewed as guests so like I can't really PM you my love and the one non-guest who reviewed (kAp4747) since you're like the only one out of them I decided I could just add you into the joint thanks. Thank you guys soo much for taking some time to put in a few words. Trust me, I'm really lazy, so you willing to give me a few words on my story really means a lot.**

 **Anyway, enough of my blabbing (I think I've compensated for the silent previous chapter). Enjoy the fourth chapter!  
**

"Are you sure about this, Lieutenant?" Reyna's face appeared by the port window once more, her brow furrowed. Her voice was muffled through the thick glass window.

Piper inhaled a deep breath, clutching her seat belt straps tightly. They offered no strength, though, and neither did the brush of her hand to her empty ring finger. She swallowed, though it echoed with the greatness of a gulp in the compact pod. She met Reyna's patient eyes.

"No matter how long I'll delay it, I'll never really be sure about it." She replied, finally.

"Then I asked the wrong question." Piper had to commend Reyna for her control. Because for a second, her onyx eyes glinted with apprehension and trepidation. But in the same beat Piper saw her reel and gather herself. The midnight sky of her eyes now shone with stars of determination.

"Are you ready?"

A true leader she was then, for her strength tugged on Piper as well.

"Yes."

Reyna gave her a firm nod before shouting an order behind her shoulder. Piper sneaked a glance through her port window and caught Leo's melancholic gaze before he hung his head. This was goodbye and they knew it for through all her planning, Piper never thought of herself coming back. Her plan wasn't defying the promise-maker and saving herself. It was the exact opposite. It was meeting him herself and leaving Half-Blood Forces with a cosmic bang.

Her eyes moved from her best friend, whose form had her heart ache, to everyone else in the room who watched her from outside her pod. They all had similar, sorrowful yet hopeful eyes as they replied to her stare with a salute or a nod. Word had gotten across about her abrupt mission and everyone in the safe sectors had rushed to the pod exits. Her friends, though, the ones fighting for their lives and the lives of the people were in the South and West Wings and she would perhaps never see them again. She would never see Squad 107, her family, ever again. She would leave without a goodbye. Thoughts of her father slipped into her mind, a flash of all the smiles she gave and received blurring through her mind in a bittersweet rush. Jason whizzed through her mind, his comfort and the bliss of his presence seeping into her, and she fought back the tears.

She supposed it was good they weren't all here to bid her farewell. She wouldn't know what state her mind would be in actually seeing them before leaving. And Jason…he would put up a barrage of protests before giving into the practicality of the situation. Yet all the no's would lodge into her heart like arrows and weaken her will. She expelled a slow breath. However how impractical she kept reassuring herself it would be for them here, she wanted them. All of them.

The straps of her seatbelt crumpled in her iron-grip as she clenched her fists.

Strength not weakness, she reminded herself.

She threw a nod to the port window, knowing Reyna was waiting for her signal, and aimed her gaze forward. The doors behind the pod shut in a vacuum-tight lock and Piper grit her teeth to avoid them rattling from the shaking soon to come. As expected, the doors ahead split and dragged open, their weight rattling the launch compartment and shaking her form. Filtered through the thick glass windows, the mighty rumble and groan of the doors sounded muffled. The inferno of possible danger degraded to a mere flicker of unease.

That was how Piper moved forward into the empty blackness of space. She imagined herself on a test mission, and herself, a cadet. She set up a net in her heart. No matter how she fell, she would be safe.

And like her father, she acted.

* * *

A crackling sounded in her ear and Piper stiffened in surprise. She wondered who dared to contact her while she was out in space. The ship was in bad shape and using its energy to conjure an iris signal to contact her out-of-range earpiece was a dangerous move. She'd only been out fifteen minutes.

Removing a hand from a lever, she quickly adjusted her earpiece to accept the signal.

She almost burst into tears at Jason's voice.

"Piper, oh my gods, _what are you doing?_ " His voice was frantic and worried and everything to break her out of character.

There net in her heart was starting to fall apart and so was the stability.

She couldn't muster a reply.

"Piper you need to turn back _right now,_ you hear me?" He had reached the summit of his control, as Piper called it. When he was a thread close to screaming, yet his voice was stable. "Piper, are you there?"

She nodded, caught herself, and whispered a yes.

"Turn back. Turn back, Piper, I…you don't have to do this!"

There was so no logic or practicality in his protests and so she shut her heart and said nothing, adjusting the gear as she edged past something that resembled a meteor. She squinted and caught the glint that it produced in the light of her craft. It was a chunk of metal, falling towards the gravity in the force field kilometres below her.

"Pipes, I have a plan, okay?" He pleaded. "What you're doing has no use! Just come back and let me explain everything. Please."

Was it debris?

She froze. Debris. Meaning—

A thunderous bang reverberated through the pod and Piper flinched as the craft tumbled and her head smashed against the control panel.

"Piper!" Jason's distraught voice rang in her ears along with the boom of metal.

Lifting her head, groaning against the sharp pain in her skull, she threw a glance through the split window to find a pod flying at rapid speed towards hers. She gasped and pure instinct shot her hand forward to a button on the control panel. She didn't even know which.

The rough smash of metal followed and Piper peered out of the port hole and almost grinned at the aftermath of the pod colliding with her craft's suddenly longer wings. She must've pressed the button to extend them. The pain of her head caught up to her and she shut her eyes briefly, trying to tune out the ringing in her ears.

It took a few seconds for her to realise the ringing was Jason.

" _Piper!_ Pipes! Answer, goddammit!" She heard him inhale a shuddery breath and his voice was thick and almost teary. "Pipes."

She heaved an equally shuddery breath and replied. "I'm okay."

It was a loud exhale of relief that followed. "What…happened?"

"Ran into a...pod." She managed. "I don't have time, Jason, I'm probably going to meet others and my pod isn't in any shape to fight or fly back."

"No."

"I'll have to get out and go on with the individual attack." She continued, her voice strong and stubborn as she began typing numerous commands into the system. "It's the only way."

" _No._ "

"Go through with your plan. I'll do what I can here." She pulled down a lever above her head.

"Piper, what are you going to do if he doesn't come to get you out in space?" Jason's voice was raw and vulnerable and Piper broke to see her strong and resilient Captain stripped to this.

"I'll keep fighting." She paused from her work to stare into the nothingness of space, slipping into her inner eye. "I'll take down as many pods as I can until…I can't."

"Piper Mclean, you _fucking imbecile_ , fly back _right now_!" He roared, loud and desperate, raw and furious.

Jason rarely swore at people. It was the honourable soldier within him that refused to result to such words. And even if he were to swear, it was always a muttered curse and never a thrown insult at someone. Hearing him swear at her prompted more to his desperation that the pleading tone of his voice.

"Jason—"

" _Shut up and fly back._ "

" _I can't._ " She banged the arm of her seat, frustrated. "I don't have the fuel, one of my wings is damaged and I'll have more pods on my tail soon! For goodness' sake, Jason, accept that I can't come back!"

There was a long pause that followed and Piper knew she said the wrong thing. She should've began placating him instead of shouting back.

For Jason's voice was strangled as he choked out. "How do expect me to do that?"

She furiously wiped the tears beginning to fall from her eyes. She hung her head. She really did feel like going back now. Jason said he had a plan, he said there was another way. He knew something that could possibly help wade away the Atlas soldiers. Possibly save her.

Her ears perked as a dull rumbling shook her seat. She looked outside the pod and immediately blurted a curse.

"What? What happened? Piper, what happened?" Jason began right after the expletive slipped out of her mouth.

"A pod," she replied. "But it's fine, it's nothing. I…snuck in Katropis. I have my drift boots and I have my armour. And if…anything goes wrong, I have enough fuel in my boots to shoot me thirty metres. I can probably reach close to an entrance in the ship. I'll be okay."

Why was she lying to him now after she'd so savagely chucked him the truth? Perhaps Jason wasn't the only person she was lying to.

"You brought Katropis?" Jason breathed.

A weapon she'd designed and worked on with Leo to help her in her individual attacks. It was based off of an old battered blueprint she found. Word was that Helen of the great battleship Troy had designed it. But the death of her lover had driven her to depression and the blueprint was all but forgotten.

"I did." She replied. "And it's going to blow these Atlas scum to oblivion."

A weak chuckle sounded in her ear. Jason, pretending, like she was.

Her pod beeped a siren at the close proximity of an object and Piper managed to mutter a quick anticlimactic bye to Jason before she dove behind and grabbed her helmet, knelt down and activated her drift boots, snatched Katropis.

A few seconds before collision, she smashed the self-destruct button and powered her drift boots.

A door swung open and she shot out, using the fuel from her drift boots to jump thirty metres.

She made it just out of blast range when bright light erupted from her pod and a deep rumbling followed, throwing her farther than the drift boots could've ever managed and shaking her bones. The blast increased twice in greatness as the pod that previously rushed towards it caught the explosion like wildfire and burst into a million pieces, a white light surging from the centre. Piper attempted to shield herself but pieces pierced through her armour, some nicking the sides of her limbs, some lodging themselves into her flesh. She fought back the cries of pain as she turned away from the explosion, covering herself.

The deep silent trembling of the in-space explosion vibrated through her and the force from the blast kept her airborne until the gravity from the force field a few kilometres below the ship caught up.

And from there she plummeted, the debris from the explosion tumbling with her.

She fell, her face facing the blackness above her, her eyes straying to the massive ship to her right. The force of the fall created weights on her limbs. Moving her arms or legs against the momentum of her fall had the effect of pulling two same pole magnets towards each other. They deflected and deflected. She managed to turn slightly to peer below her. The force field rose closer and closer. Getting too close to the gravity barrier was fatal. She needed to act fast before she met it.

Crying out, she forced her arms down to her boots and managed to switch on the walk boards on the drift boots. As soon as thin icy blue rectangular screens formed beneath her feet, she was jerked to a stop. She braced herself against a whiplash and was then immediately righted, like a buoy in the sea, her feet the bottom.

She unstrapped Katropis from her back and pressed her feet together until the walk boards, lined up, merged into one large board, resembling a surf board. Piper grinned as she recalled the first time she practiced in space. It was like surfing in California with her dad all over again.

Another deep vibration caused her to whirl about. Lights flashed into her eyes and she squinted against it, gasping when she caught sight of another pod…

…pods.

Three pods, weaving through some falling debris, lining up before her.

Piper leaned back and the board moved simultaneously with her, putting distance between the pods and herself. Laser beams emitted from each pod and followed every move she made. Her eyes firm on the beams, she slowly knelt and dipped katropis in the energy board at her feet. The staff was slightly bigger than the board so she had to angle it in to allow the entire surface of Katropis to be covered in the icy blue substance.

The first blast ricocheted off Katropis, bouncing back towards the line of pods. The craft closest to it dodged the blow and shot another towards her. Piper pressed a button on katropis before raising it horizontally from her abdomen to her face, the space between the initial and final position of the staff now a translucent light blue shield that consumed the laser in a gulp. The shield crumpled like paper when she lowered the staff. She then aimed Katropis towards the pods and readied to shoot when a lightning quick laser caught her in the arm, wavering her grip on it. She cried out and grabbed the staff with her other arm when it began to fall from her grip. A hasty glance towards her hurt arm revealed her burnt armour and singed flesh.

She didn't realise how close the pods had gotten when bright light shone into her eyes. Blinking past the lights, she managed to see the pilots operating them and each were concentrated on the left side of their control panels. She knew the interior of a pod enough to know to dive out of their range when blasts emitted from the pods. She hurried to right herself when the pods turned simultaneously towards her. They fired again and Piper threw up Katropis before catching it to create another shield like she did before. A split second before the shield formed, however, two shots managed to hit the side of her thigh and her lower abdomen. She let loose a pained and frustrated shout. The numerous wounds were leaving her pained and stung and very ready to lie down and forget this. She looked through the shield in front of her and saw the lasers come and disappear as soon as they reached the shield and it was quite surreal, having a beam fly towards you and yet leave you unharmed. She was getting quite high on the feeling.

The pods split from their line and began circling her like sharks, the lasers still firing. Piper gasped, turning her shield around helplessly, fear clenching her heart. It was useless. She jerked as spasms rocked her body with each blow. It was blinding agony coursing through her as each shot burnt through her suit and burrowed into her flesh. The vice-like grip on Katropis offered no comfort or escape whatsoever, abandoning her in her own pain. The shield was firmly against her heart, blocking the quickest way to end her but it wavered as her grip did. As her strength did. As her heart beat did.

The world was blurring, the lasers before her muddled and blending into one white light that stung her eyes. Her muffled mind belatedly processed the dark silhouette, lined by the bright light surrounding it as it neared her. She couldn't back away, her body riddled with sharp blows and so she met the form with squinted eyes. Arms encircled her and the shots suddenly stopped. Piper slumped against the form, gasping and then panting. With one last ebb of strength she lifted her head to meet what she hoped were the eyes of the form, her finger straying to the one button on Katropis she'd prayed she wouldn't have to use.

And then destruction.

* * *

A sharp white light flashed from outside the windows, followed by the violent quivering of the ship. Jason and other soldiers jumped from their places and shot towards the windows, wide-eyed.

His heart dropped and fear placed a cold hand on his heart that threatened to beat right out of his chest. _No, no, no, no, no, no, no._

He barely registered the sudden voice of the admiral ringing through his ear. "They have retreated. All medics must report to the West and South Wings to tend to the wounded. I repeat—"

Jason snatched the earpiece off.

He limped to the launch compartment's control panel, meeting the frightened eyes of Leo and Reyna. "What was that?" He demanded.

Leo held his head in his hands, his shoulders trembling. His state terrified Jason. "Piper." He all but sobbed.

Jason grabbed him by the shoulders. "What did she do?"

"She…" Jason turned to Reyna and startled. Were those…tears in her eyes? "That idiot self-destructed her weapon."

He looked helplessly at Leo.

"We were monitoring her vitals through the armour she was wearing and the fight situation through the signals from her ear piece." He said with a strangled voice. "From…what we gathered, she…was hit… _so many damn times_." His distraught gaze met Jason's. "But Katropis…Piper and I designed it to act as a shield that would…consume energy." Jason could tell Leo didn't want to explain, was too exhausted and pained to say the words. But he was desperate. He needed to know. "So…I don't know why, she must've met a valuable threat or…even the _fucking_ promise-maker but she used the consumed energy to destroy her weapon. And since there was so much of energy within it, the destruction emitted an explosion and…" He sagged and his voice died out. His head hung and his shoulders trembled. "And…"

Jason couldn't breathe. _And…_

Reyna's voice, stable yet weak, picked up. "And from the signals and results we've received, it's completely destroyed the pods surrounding and…" She heaved a shuddery breath. "We can't pick up any living life forces from the area. Her armour…isn't providing any more signals."

They were empty words. Jason couldn't process the meaning behind them. His mind wasn't working. He refused to dwell on their defeated forms, their grieving eyes. Refused to recall what Reyna said. He numbly walked away from the hung heads of his sorrowful friends, no destination in mind. He wandered out of the room, ignored the dozens of eyes on him, and shuffled down a hallway.

Reyna and Leo didn't know what they were saying, he reassured himself. They had gotten the wrong feed. The wrong information. It couldn't be true. She couldn't be…

It was only a few seconds later, or was it an eternity, that he dimly registered pounding. Were they…footsteps? A warm hand on his shoulder swivelled him around and he met the blue eyes of a short, blonde cadet. She immediately pulled him in, her small arms gentle.

It took him a few beats to realise who it was. "X," he mumbled, his voice weak. "Piper Mclean, whatever you want to be called. Let go of me."

He wouldn't lie that it was almost comforting being in her arms. He adjusted his chin a little higher to settle onto the back of her head that she leaned into his shoulder. Tears sprang into his eyes for a second, though he knew not why. A feeling perched in his heart, a sudden emotion he didn't want to identify. He slowly pulled away and found that she had morphed back into herself, into Piper, and the sight of his fiancée broke him.

"Jason," X breathed. "It's okay, it's all right. I'm here if you need me."

He said nothing and pulled her back towards him, choking. It was the sight of Piper that broke his numbness and the wall he put up against reason.

 _We can't pick up any living life forces from the area. Her armour…isn't providing any more signals._

She's gone.

He knew he couldn't pretend anymore like he so willingly did when he last spoke with her. He saw the blast, he felt how it shook the ship.

And she was right at the heart of it.

He grit his teeth against the sob that threatened to burst out of him, shut his eyes against the person in his arms. No matter how much comfort her presence provided, it wasn't the same. No matter how similar the two Pipers were, he knew his without opening his eyes. They were like two recipes of the same dish and Jason was too accustomed to his to pretend they were the same. Her presence was beginning to work more as a mockery than as comfort, reminding him of the thing he would never get back.

He would never Piper back.

He untangled himself quickly from her grasp and continued down the hallway, the grip on his composure wavering with each step away as he slipped into the depths of his tumultuous mind.

If he had been faster, he would've been able to stop her before she'd launched and gone ahead with the plan he and X conjured. If he had only been able to prod the truth out of X much earlier, Piper wouldn't have had to be herself, her courageous, honourable self, and gone to fight. If only he'd allowed X to take him down when she attacked him a year ago, he wouldn't have angered the second-in-command and ignited his fatal promises and everyone would've been here, alive. Piper would've been here, by his side.

He halted in his stride and inhaled a deep, calming breath. These were useless arguments, he knew it. Piper would've already smacked him upside the head if he'd spoken these aloud—

 _Piper._

He clenched his fists against threat of tears, clamping down his jaw and gritting his teeth.

When he reached the crossroad before the hallway to his room, he took a left instead of the intended right and limped to the set of double doors that were surprisingly unguarded today. He slammed open the doors and his eyes struggled to adjust the sudden dimness compared to the stark whiteness of the hallway. He scanned the large dull purple-cast room until his eyes found the long table set at the end, people slumped on the chairs. He strode to the bar and once again ignored the sudden united stare of the room, the bartender the only one immersed in his work.

The moment he rested onto the chair at the bar, Jason's entire body slumped, his arms thrown over the counter, his head buried in them.

He felt the pounds of the bartender's footsteps through the wood of the counter and raised his head to meet the man's eyes. His voice was low and solemn. "Something strong?" D asked.

Jason nodded shallowly and rested his head against the table once more.

Something dug into his leg and he frowned, his hand lazily slipping into his pocket to retrieve what caused him pain. The moment his fingers found the object, he froze. Slowly, very slowly, hand trembling, he pulled his hand out and held it in front of him.

It was a ring.

His wall of numbness came crashing down. His dam of tears shattered. He couldn't do it anymore. He didn't have the strength.

He shoved his head into his arms and wept.

* * *

Even before opening her eyes, Piper flinched against the bright, blinding light. A constant chill swept over her bare body, slipping even through the thin cotton blanket lain over her lower half. The icy metal beneath her stung her skin and a constant beep sounded in the otherwise silent room.

She slowly opened her eyes and flinched once more at the now more intense light. Her eyes roamed the room and she found completely pristine white tiles surround her and a large glass wall to her left.

Was she…being monitored?

The door suddenly clicked open in front of her and she blinked, starting.

A tall masked man walked in and Piper almost gasped.

Promise-maker.

His eyes, the only feature of his face visible, found hers and…what was that intense look?

She saw his gaze move down to her bare breasts and she quickly moved her arms to cover herself as he neared, fear pounding in her heart. But he merely lifted the blanket to her chest to cover her and turned around, pacing.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I told the nurses to bring you clothes. You must be freezing."

Her eyebrows drew together, confusion swirling in her head. Why was he being kind? She watched him as he turned to her in his stride. What was that gentleness in his stare? That softness? She kept her eyes on him like a hawk, monitoring his every move. No matter how kind he was being, she refused to allow herself to relax. She couldn't trust him.

He chuckled at her cold stare. "I understand if you hate me, Piper." She frowned at the way he said her name. As if it he'd memorised the way his mouth pronounced it. As if he'd said it a million times. As if saying it was a drug.

"Well, I'm glad you're sane." She retorted.

His eyes smiled. "I'm glad you're here."

She glared, inching back, revolted. "Why?"

His hands moved to the mask that covered his face and he slowly removed it, as if to create suspense.

She had enough knowledge in theatre to approve of the elongated suspense.

Because the reveal made up for it.

She gasped.

"Jason?"


	5. Chapter 5

She hissed, driving her nails into the palm of her other hand to divert the pain. She brought the stinging hand to her face, examining the bleeding finger.

The cut was deep, blood gushing out, but a mere pinch compared to the state her hands were in a week ago.

It had been week she'd been stuck in this hellhole.

Well, hellhole wasn't the correct term. It was clean, cosy and of the perfect temperature, neither warm nor cold, but rather a refreshing cool. The view from the window was picturesque, the Earth, a comforting, homely sight as it leaned lazily to one side, stars blinking sleepily behind it. A polished mahogany (or whatever else expensive wood it was) table with cushioned chairs, a plush suede settee, a cloud-like soft queen-sized bed.

She felt more like a guest than a prisoner.

Of course, she'd scoured the entire suite for hidden cameras, vents to escape or anything that could be used as a weapon. She had to commend them for their intelligence as no knives, no forks, no mirrors, no glass pieces or anything she could attack the sweet lady who brought her food every morning existed in the large queen-like chamber.

There was, though, a rod to hold the silk clothing in the armoire that Piper had spent hours trying to pull loose.

She grabbed a tissue off the dinner table, wrapping it tightly around the cut finger.

The rod put up quite a fight.

She threw a dirty look at the stubborn thing, wrinkling her nose at the silk clothes thrown over it.

They provided no hangers either.

Curse these smart people.

It wasn't that she cared that the clothes would get wrinkled thrown haphazardly like that. She was still in the hospital scrubs she was provided a week ago, regardless of the showers they let her take. She wasn't going to be dolled up in their hideous designer clothing.

Especially after the second-in-command refused to answer her questions.

She fought the image of his face from her mind.

What dirty tricks was he playing, visiting her with Jason's face?

Jason.

She shut her eyes, fighting her tears.

He thought she was dead. They all did.

She wished she was dead.

Better than spending time here in this comfortable suite, not having achieved anything in her reckless mission.

She was ready to die to blow the promise-maker up. She was ready to end these deadly promises.

Why the hell didn't she?

She had so many questions. So much she didn't understand.

How did they survive the explosion?

Why wasn't he killing her?

Why did he wear her fiancé's face?

Piper jumped at the hiss of the doors, shutting the armoire and slipping into her usual seat by the window.

Her heart rattled at the sight of his face.

Not Jason, she reminded herself. Even with the so familiar firm, angry set of the mouth and bunched up shoulders.

"Brianna tells me you're not eating." He said tightly, crossing his arms.

After a whole week of her screaming for his presence to the daily food lady, demanding answers, he came for this?

His face was bare, no mask covering it like during their first meeting, and stern. A navy blue uniform, gold embellishing the shoulder pads, wore snugly on his built form and badges lined the chest. The collar was zipped to the crevice between his collar bones.

Piper threw a glance to the five-star meal spread on her table. Her stomach yearned for it, empty for the past a week.

She wouldn't dine at the enemy's ship.

Her stubborn gaze met his again.

"Piper," He neared her, crouching, his voice loud with anger. "This isn't funny or honourable. You can't heal properly if you don't eat."

She said nothing, holding his stare with the same stubbornness. Why the hell did he care?

"Do you have a death wish?" He snapped.

She raised her chin. "I did." She spat. "But you took it away after so willingly _promising_ it."

He paused.

Caught on the spider web.

"I never wanted you to die." He whispered.

The way he said the words…

What was he really saying?

In the blink of his eye, the lost look dissolved into a present one.

"I don't want to kill you, Piper." He continued, his eyes this time actually looking at her. "I…" He blinked as if an idea flickered in his mind.

Piper frowned.

He pointed to the table. "Eat." He commanded, his voice stern. "I'll tell you everything if you eat."

She blinked. It was that easy? That simple? "Everything?"

He nodded.

Really? She didn't trust that. That was too small a price.

She narrowed her eyes at him, scanning for a slip. Anything to prompt to his lie.

This man was a lying, manipulative psychopath. Why should she listen?

"Everything?" She repeated, leaning forward with squinted eyes. "Define everything."

He pursed his lips, averting his gaze as if it hurt to look. "Anything you ask." he said quietly.

Well, he'd promised information and he never broke his promises, she thought bitterly. If there was any slip or any mishap she would be on him in a second.

Her gaze fell on the food once again.

And anyway, wasn't it her dream to have everything she wanted for the price of food? Teenage-Piper would be jumping with joy.

She didn't jump with joy, neither did she shoot up with delight. She didn't want to show any eagerness. So she rose slowly, feigning reluctance.

Jason—no, not Jason, he was not Jason. What else did she call him? Promise-Maker sounded too grand and was honestly a mouthful.

She snuck a glance at him.

He followed her, his shoes clicking against the floor. Piper settled into a seat by the length of the rectangular table, Not-Jason sitting opposite her.

He folded his arms on the table and gestured for her to start.

She looked at the platter of food.

It still surprised her like the first time she saw the food that there was no meat. How they knew she was a vegetarian was beyond her.

She picked up the now-cold grilled cheese to her right, her nose devouring the cheesy smell before her mouth had the chance. Her teeth dug into the bread, the crispy sandwich crunching in her mouth.

Okay, this was magnificent.

She snapped her eyes to Not-Jason, not forgetting the deal they made.

He watched her with a quirk of his mouth, his eyes….

…adoring.

She leaned away, revolted.

He wasn't Jason.

He would never come close to Jason.

He was a murderer, a psychopath; heartless.

And she was here to pry information.

What to ask? What to ask? There was so much in her tumultuous mind, so many questions flying around like debris within a tornado. It was hard to clutch one.

She inhaled a deep breath. "Why did you keep me alive?"

He sighed. "You took one bite." He shook his head.

She waited for him to answer.

"I was never going to kill you, Piper." Not-Jason told her. "The promise—it was never made to eliminate you."

"So you just wanted me on your ship?"

"More than that." He breathed, his hands tightening, clutching one another. "Much more."

What did he mean by that? She leaned back once more, suddenly wary of being near him.

He caught the look in her eyes and shook his head. "Your DNA is the key to project Venus."

"Huh?"

He sighed once more. "Let me start from the beginning."

* * *

 _"My parents were jumpers." Kronos paced before them, his hands clasped behind his back acting as a sort of mockery to their shackled ones. "They'd created a machine that allowed them to jump between universes."_

 _They blinked, exchanging narrowed glances. Jump between universes?_

 _"But the machine kept hidden was found by Zeus Grace, whom the two had stolen lightning fuel from."_

 _Jason stilled. Zeus? His father? "My father doesn't make fuel—"_

 _Kronos threw him an ironic smile. "Technically your father does."_

 _"What are you—" Jason started, befuddled._

 _"I was born in the void between this universe and the ones my parents were from on their way to flee here." He continued, pacing once more, paying no heed to Jason's growing confusion. "Which gave me the ability to travel between them at will."_

 _Jason's heart thundered._

 _"However, I realise that like the machine, I also require a dose of lightning fuel. My parents had stolen enough for stock so I do have access to it. Consuming, though, will require a visit to Chiron, a man who works on biological alteration in the other universe."_

 _"Alteration?" Piper asked._

 _"I need Chiron to fuel me with the lightning in a way that I can tap into it at will."_

 _"Why do you need us?" Jason narrowed his eyes._

 _"I need an army, people who will help me achieve my goal of retrieving those files. That's all you'll have to do. I have people who can help me with the alteration. We just need the files."_

 _Jason clenched his fists behind him. No. He and Piper were done being soldiers. They resigned for a reason._

 _"We can't help you." Piper said, her chin held high._

 _A slow smile grow on the man's bearded face. As if he was anticipating pulling out his next card._

 _"In addition to the files, Chiron has a list of people with the correct DNA that can withstand his experiments and become super soldiers. Soldiers with an ability tailored to their genes and greater strength," His eyes cut to him, a cold, satisfied smile carved into his face, as if he'd found gold. "And an almost invincible immunity."_

 _Jason stilled, fighting to keep the curiosity, the spark from his face. These experiments couldn't help him, couldn't fight the disease burning away his years. He met the man's eyes. It couldn't be._

 _Piper straightened, a look shot at him. There was hope, such bright, painful hope in her eyes._

 _"Jason Grace and Piper Mclean from the other universe hold such DNAs." Kronos said._

 _"How'd you know that if you don't have the list?" Piper shot at him. Jason would've asked that himself had his mind not turned to mush at Kronos's previous statement._

 _"I had an inside source." Kronos replied, his eyes…was that wistfulness in them? "But unfortunately Luka Castellan was discovered by Chiron and his people and eliminated. He only managed to inform me of a few names."_

 _"You could've asked him to steal the files when he was there himself."_

 _Kronos glared. "That would've been a suicide mission."_

 _"And what you're asking of us isn't?" Piper grit out._

 _"No," Kronos replied evenly and cleared his throat, continuing. "Chiron has made sure to recruit Jason and Piper from the other universe to keep them from my grasp. If you help me steal the list and plans of the biological alteration, I can save you."_

 _I can save you._

 _Piper hung her head and Jason caught her pursing her lips in thought._

 _He would have more years to live. The disease wouldn't leash him anymore._

 _She snapped her head up as if she made a decision and shot him a look to consider, her eyes pleading._

 _I can save you._

* * *

 _Piper put a palm against the glass that encased him, her eyes willing strength into him. He placed his own hand so that it lined against hers, as if he could absorb the strength._

 _A buzz sounded and Piper took a reluctant step back, her eyes never leaving his._

 _Like the shell of an egg, thin cups of metal closed over the glass, shutting the light out, trapping him in darkness._

 _He'd helped Kronos steal the plans from Chiron, helped him return safely. He'd helped recruit all the people from his universe that shared the names and features and DNA sturctures of the people on the list._

 _Kronos would have no reason to betray him._

 _This would work._

 _He would live._

 _So like the metal cups, shutting out the outside from him, Jason slid his eyes shut, blocking out the procedure._

 _The pain._

* * *

 _"You can't leave." A wheeze sounded from the exit._

 _Jason and Piper paused, lowering their bags, their heads turned to find Kronos slumped against the frame of the doors._

 _"What are you doing here?" Piper asked, uncertainly. "What do you mean?"_

 _"You still have more to do." He coughed, knocking his chest with a closed fist._

 _Jason frowned, the very edge of his heart dipped in concern. "We did everything you asked. You said that's all you needed. What happened now?"_

 _"Chiron," He breathed. "He had hidden some files from me. The procedure…it was wrong."_

 _Jason blinked, beginning to notice varicose veins branching across Kronos's forehead, branding his neck._

 _Wrong?_

 _He glanced over himself, examined Piper. It was done wrong?_

 _Panic began skittering over his heart. "What do you mean?" His voice shook. "What's going to happen to us?"_

 _"I need to find the files to fix this." Kronos wheezed. "I need to live."_

 _Jason dropped Piper's hand and rushed forward. "You tell me what's going to happen to us." He demanded. "What side effects this will have on us."_

 _Kronos smiled darkly. "Anything could happen to you. Help me retrieve those files or face the pain."_

* * *

 _Jason didn't like this._

 _Piper flinched as the zip caught on her skin and he apologised, angling the fabric away from her skin as he brought the zip up._

 _She smoothed her suit and gathered her hair in a ponytail, her back to him._

 _Jason's heart clenched at the sight of the varicose veins peeking up her collar._

 _"I don't like this." He grumbled._

 _She sighed, her back still to him. "You made that clear the first time."_

 _He swivelled her about and held her face between his hands. "It's because I can't stand it."_

 _"It'll be a short mission." She said softly. "I'll be back before you know it."_

 _He pulled back, scowling. "Why did Kronos ask you to do this anyway?"_ Especially with the daily pain you fail to hide.

 _"That stupid Captain needs to die."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"Because he's proving to be an annoying thorn in the side who always manages to hit our ship the right way. Kronos wants a sample of his DNA as well." Piper glanced at him with an ironic smile._

 _"Why doesn't he stick a needle in me and be done with it?" He didn't see any difference between him and the Jason Grace from the other side._

 _"We did." She answered simply. "That's the only way I can travel to the ship, you know."_

 _"Why don't we just kill them_ all _off by using the DNAs from the people on this ship and assassinating their counterparts quietly like you are?" Jason inquired for the hundredth time._

 _She sighed for the hundredth time. "_ Because _we've seen Jason Grace with our own eyes. We don't know who's on that ship and who isn't."_

 _Jason was a little disturbed by the fact that Kronos was sending Piper to kill…him. Or...Jason Grace._

 _He didn't know how she was holding herself together. He knew he could never kill her other self._

 _"Still," Jason egged. "Why didn't he just give you an easy mission and make you use your free travel slip by hunting Chiron instead of Not-Jason."_

 _She chuckled when he said Not-Jason. "Because," She mushed his face between her hands, treating him like a baby as she pouted out the words. "Only the person whose DNA we've used can see me then. And he'll be the only person_ I'll _be able to touch for a good few hours. And they'll obviously find me if I wait a few hours to regain touch and find Chiron."_

 _He huffed, evoking a smile from her. "Do you_ have _to go?"_

 _She kissed him, her lips smooth and silky. "I'll be back, Jason." She assured him. "I promise."_

 _She couldn't keep that promise._

* * *

 _"She was too useful to have been eliminated." Kronos's voice had him tense._

 _Jason clenched his fists on the wood of the bar, tendrils of anger licking his throat. "You killed her," He growled._

 _"She failed the mission." Kronos replied simply._

 _Jason hurled his glass at him._

 _The glass shattered, Kronos safely to the side, and shrieks from the bar followed. He ignored the gapes thrown at him from the bartender and people around._

 _Kronos shook his head in disapproval. Jason narrowed his eyes at his healthy state. His lightning powers were being wasted to treat that pathetic pile of flesh. "This isn't the correct behaviour of a second-in-command."_

 _"It isn't, admiral." Jason agreed, his voice hoarse and savage. "Because I'm not your second-in-command anymore."_

 _The man narrowed his eyes. "And why is that?"_

 _"I'm not going to serve a man who kills their own people. Your desperate missions are all massacres. You decide to enhance your army even with faulty procedures. You—"_

 _"Killed Piper Mclean." Kronos continued, burning a cold stare into him. "I know it all, Jason. I know how your mind works."_

 _"Then you should know to leave before you lose a limb." He growled._

 _"Look," He neared Jason, no fear in his eyes, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I need the lightning abilities I gave you as a replacement for the lightning fuel. You need me to find those files and save your lost cause of a body."_

 _"Not anymore." Jason snapped his shoulder back, throwing Kronos's arm off him. "I joined for my own wellbeing but I stayed for Piper's. There's no reason for me to stay now."_

 _"There is." Kronos smiled. "I can help you avenge her."_

 _"By killing you?"_

 _He rolled his golden eyes. "I'm not the one who killed her." He snapped. "It was Jason Grace from Half-Blood Forces. You can avenge Piper by making_ his _life hell. By taking away the people he loves."_

 _"Why would I do that?"_

 _"Because through our research we've found many counterparts of the people who died from our side on_ the other _ship. Their abilities are rare and we are in dire need. We can use the dead ones' DNA and throw you there. From there you can take the counterparts and we can continue procedures."_

 _Jason wasn't moved. There was nothing but more risk through more procedures. More deaths. More work. More of serving this bastard._

 _"I don't want to." He gestured to the bartender for another drink._

 _"You can see Piper again."_

 _Jason stilled._

 _"You can torment him like he tormented you." Kronos continued. "You can see your Piper again."_

 _No, no. She wouldn't be the same. What good would it do for him to pretend the other Piper was the same as his? This was wrong._

 _"I don't even know if she's on the ship." Jason reasoned coldly and matter-of-factly, allowing no feeling to enter his voice. "I don't know if Captain Grace there even_ knows _her."_

 _"You can find out by asking the people you take."_

 _No. This was stupid and he wasn't doing it._

 _Kronos sighed, perhaps knowing he wasn't moving him. "Do you know why I want the lightning within me and the army of enhanced people?"_

 _"No," Jason replied drily. "You left that out of the interview."_

 _"It's because I want respect." Kronos hissed. "The same respect my parents never got and through that had to hide and flee and die. I want to end the people that murdered my parents. I want a new era of enhanced technology and super-soldiers. I want access to all universes. I want all the knowledge in existence. I want people to stop treating me like vermin."_

 _"Maybe if you clean your filthy heart and conjure up some morals." Jason spat. "Maybe then you'll be treated with respect."_

 _"I'll pass. My parents ran with fear. I will instil fear."_

 _"Go ahead." Jason brought the glass the bartender had set on the table to his lips and allowed the cool liquid to splash in his mouth. "I want nothing to do with it."_

 _"I'll do you a favour as long as you fight with me." Kronos weighed his words carefully, as if still considering whether to use the card or not._

 _More simple favours for large-scale, long-term commitments._

 _"No thank you—"_

 _"Thalia Grace is on the other ship." Kronos cut him off. "I will remove the Thalia Grace here from the fight and keep her safe if you help me get the other one. The other one will fight in her place."_

 _His mind blanked. Thalia, who'd joined Atlas to help him out. Keeping the only person he had left from danger. It was all he could ask for. It was as easy as that._

 _Making the Not-Jason feel pain for killing his Piper. Taking away his friends and family and maybe then even Piper. Avenging his Piper. Seeing Piper again._

 _He cut a begrudging look to Kronos. He didn't want to agree._

 _He inhaled a deep breath. His hand jerked out to shake the admiral's._

I'll be back, Jason, I promise.

 _They broke that promise from him._

 _He would teach them how to keep promises._

* * *

 _Half-Blood Forces._

Annabeth met his eyes, her own red and bloodshot. Jason assumed she'd just come from another round of sobbing quietly in her room. Other than that, she showed no signs of grieving.

Strong, controlled Annabeth.

"So if we use this formation." She stuck her pen on one of the dozen papers strewn across the table. "Then we'd cover their ship from all sides while still having a thick layer of pods around."

He rubbed his face, nodding.

New battle strategies were what were supposed to distract Jason these past a week, Chiron taking one sympathetic look at the mess he was and ordering him and then sobbing Annabeth to work on plans for their next move.

Because of Piper's brave testing, all wounded soldiers were immediately treated with a dose of Ambrosia and healed quickly and efficiently. Will, Kayla and the rest of the medics and biological engineers oversaw the process. Everyone else was kept busy too.

Leo and Nyssa were kept busy working on repairs, Percy sent to deal with promoting and filling in gaps left by the deaths in Sectors and battalions, Hazel briefing the fighter pilots, Frank working on fixing and enhancing missiles and lasers.

Everyone from Squad 107 constantly moving, working, as if their minds were quicksand and stopping would allow them to be engulfed. They met up altogether rarely, too, their work schedules too busy to make time. Or whatever excuse they were glad to keep them occupied. The truth was, Piper was the glue that kept them together. Any fight, any distance, pent-up anger—it would all be smoothed down by Piper. She always knew what to say, how to diffuse the tension, how to keep everyone involved and never left out. Meeting without her there would make her absence more real. It would be like a voluntary step into the quicksand.

But Jason had already drowned.

Waking up without her by his side, touching his earpiece and remembering she wasn't there to call, his feet taking him towards her Sector before his mind caught up and he remembered she wasn't there.

Was gone.

It was the worst kind of pain. The empty kind. The type that froze you, numbed you from the inside, making one wonder why they even tried; to force himself out of bed, where her scent lingered, to eat breakfast at the mess, where her laughter resonated, to put his mind to strategising, when he could hear her voice: _Stop overworking yourself, Sparky. Take a break._

They were like sirens, those memories of her. Slowly reeling him in, tempting him to just give up the front, just lie in bed until death took him. There was nothing to come back to, anyway. When Thalia was taken, it was only the memory of Piper that kept him from completely collapsing. Now, there was no one left.

No.

No matter how distant they were, Squad 107 did their best to pick the pieces of each other's hearts. They visited sometimes, not all together, they weren't brave enough to, but just to keep each other, keep him, strong.

It was them and the memory of Piper's fierceness that kept him from giving in to the threat of collapsing.

"What do you suggest the firing act should be?" Annabeth cocked her head as she asked him, her mind already clicking to answer her own question.

Jason brought his arm forward, resting his chin on his palm as he racked his brain.

It was difficult catching up to this strategising when his mind was whirring not only with the thoughts of a week ago but also about what he would do with X.

Would he lock her up again? Would he give her in to Chiron, who constantly suggested doing tests on her? Would he let her get back to her ship?

No. He had to tell everyone the truth of Atlas. He'd stalled enough. No matter how much of his dislike towards her wore away, she was still the enemy, still the one who, a year ago, was ready to kill him.

"I think…" Annabeth drew out, the idea still forming itself in her mind. "That we should follow the macarena—I can't believe I'm using that stupid term—using the celestial bronze bullets instead of our lasers. I'll ask Frank about how we can arrange that."

Jason barely heard her as he tried to form words. He watched her write something down, tapping the table with a finger, her brows furrowed.

"Great." Was the feeble reply. No, why could he just tell her? His chest rose as he inhaled deeply. "Annabeth."

The muted grey of her eyes flashed in question, her brow furrowed at his tone.

He gulped, his nails digging into his palms, willing words into his mouth.

But she paused, her eyes averting, now burning holes into her paper.

Jason paused too.

A whirlwind raged in her stormy greys. A battle.

His brow furrowed.

"Jason," Her eyes didn't move from the paper, yet her tone wasn't as thoughtful. "You need to know this."

It seemed reluctant.

"I'm not from here."


End file.
